Overviews and Timelines

A Short Historical Timeline of the Protestant Reformation  (2006)

"Throughout the history of Christendom no marriage remains as perplexing as that which occurred in the early years of the fourth century when Emperor Constantine professed Christianity, and brought together Church and State in uneasy matrimony. Over the centuries the peculiar consummation of that union seemed to produce a religious institution that would little resemble the family Jesus began. It would also produce many sons and daughters who labored vainly to serve these two masters; often making them either favored heirs of one, or bastard children of the other ... the marriage of Church and State was doomed to fail before the honeymoon was over. Yet, its demise would live for well over a millennium, bringing untold theological disaster, as well as indescribable torture and needless death to the countless lives that were caught in its rigor mortis-like grip over Europe. A rebirth of its corrupted nature was desperately needed..."

Pre-Reformation (c11th-15th Centuries)

Reformation Avant La Lettre in Late Medieval Europe  (April 1994 / December 2013)

"There were many criticisms of medieval Roman Catholicism from Christians who would not bow to her authority. ... This article looks at some of Rome's detractors who were the immediate forerunners of the Reformation of the 16th century; in particular John Wycliffe (c1320-1384) and the Lollards in England, and Jan Hus (c1369-1415) and the Hussites in Bohemia..."

Background to the Reformation  (No Date)

"[Martin] Luther's actions are usually held to mark the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, but they also represent the culmination of a long period of discontent, disquiet and change within Christendom ... Demands for reform pre-dated the Reformation itself by several centuries..."

The Reformation 'Proper' (1517 --> )

What We Owe to the Reformation  (26 October 2017)

"How important is the Protestant Reformation to you? Five hundred years have passed since Martin Luther published his 95 Theses. Our modern age considers events that old to be of no relevance; we have a very short-sighted view of both the past and the future..."

The Reformation  (2003/2013)

"Forbidden to own or even read copies of God's precious Word in the vernacular, many groups of evangelical believers during the Middle Ages nevertheless did so. Groups such as the Waldensians in France, Italy, and Spain, the Hussites in Bohemia and the Lollards in England rejected all the false teachings of Catholicism and were thus viciously persecuted and martyred by Rome for their refusal to bow the knee to Rome's false god. Others, by God's grace, survived Rome's Inquisitions against them, paving the way for the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century..."

The Reformation: Facts and Summary  (2009)

"The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual, and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. ... Historians usually date the start of the Protestant Reformation to the 1517 publication of Martin Luther's '95 Theses.'  Its ending can be placed anywhere from the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, which allowed for the co-existence of Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany, to the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years War..."

The Protestant Reformation  (1991)

"The reformation of the church in the sixteenth century was rooted in demands for spiritual renewal and institutional change. These pressures began as early as the late fourteenth century and came from many sources..."

Protestant Reformation  (No Date)

"The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Its religious aspects were supplemented by ambitious political rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense of the Church. The Reformation ended the unity imposed by medieval Christianity and, in the eyes of many historians, signaled the beginning of the modern era..."

What was the Protestant Reformation?  (No Date)

"The Protestant Reformation was a widespread theological revolt in Europe against the abuses and totalitarian control of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Even prior to the Protestant Reformation, there were pockets of resistance to some of the unbiblical practices of the Roman Catholic Church, yet they were relatively small and isolated..."

Martin Luther's 95 Theses

"Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter. In the Name [of] our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen" [Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences]

Text of the 95 Theses  (No Date)

"The 95 Theses, a document written by Martin Luther in 1517, challenged the teachings of the Catholic Church on the nature of penance, the authority of the pope and the usefulness of indulgences. It sparked a theological debate that fueled the Reformation and subsequently resulted in the birth of Protestantism and the Lutheran, Reformed, and Anabaptist traditions within Christianity..."

What are the 95 Theses of Martin Luther?  (No Date)

"The '95 Theses' were written in 1517 by a German priest and professor of theology named Martin Luther. His revolutionary ideas served as the catalyst for the eventual breaking away from the Catholic Church and were later instrumental in forming the movement known as the Protestant Reformation. Luther wrote his radical '95 Theses' to express his growing concern with the corruption within the Church. In essence, his Theses called for a full reform of the Catholic Church and challenged other scholars to debate with him on matters of church policy..."

The Five Solas

What are the Five Solas?  (No Date)

"The five solas are five Latin phrases popularized during the Protestant Reformation that emphasized the distinctions between the early Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church. The word sola is the Latin word for 'only' and was used in relation to five key teachings that defined the biblical pleas of Protestants. They are: Sola scriptura: Scripture alone; Sola fide: faith alone; Sola gratia: grace alone; Solo Christo: Christ alone; Soli Deo gloria: to the glory of God alone. Each of these solas can be seen both as a corrective to the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church at the start of the Reformation and as a positive biblical declaration..."

What is Sola Scriptura?  ( No Date)

"The phrase sola scriptura is from the Latin: sola having the idea of 'alone', 'ground', 'base', and the word scriptura meaning 'writings' referring to the Scriptures. Sola Scriptura means that Scripture alone is authoritative for the faith and practice of the Christian. The Bible is complete, authoritative, and true ... Sola Scriptura was the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation..."

Why is Sola Fide Important?  (No Date)

"Sola fide which means 'faith alone' is important because it is one of the distinguishing characteristics or key points that separate the true biblical Gospel from false gospels. At stake is the very Gospel itself and it is therefore a matter of eternal life or death. ... Sola fide is one of the five solas that came to define and summarise the key issues of the Protestant Reformation. Each of these Latin phrases represents a key area of doctrine that was an issue of contention between the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church..."

Why is Solo Christo Important?  (No Date)

"When the Reformers insisted in solo Christo, they affirmed that we are saved by Christ alone, apart from the merit of any other person ... It is Christ and Christ alone who saves..."

The Reformation in England

The Reformation  (2003/2013)

"England's Reformation was a stop-start affair. Making a hesitant beginning under Henry VIII (who remained and died a Catholic), it advanced quickly, but all too briefly, during the five-year reign of his son Edward VI - only to be strangled during the following five years under Edward's half-sister, Mary Tudor. A staunch Catholic, Mary was well-named 'Bloody Mary' for the hundreds of Protestants she and her husband, Philip II of Spain, had consigned to the fires of Smithfield ... When Mary died, childless, she was succeeded by Elizabeth I whose primary concern as Queen was to restore peace and stability to England after the horrors of the previous five years..."

The Reformation: The Church of England  (No Date)

"Protestantism in England got off to a slow and shaky start. This was primarily because the Reformation in England was born, not of popular religious conviction, but of political and social expediency ... This is not to say that England had none of sincere religious sentiment or heroic spirit, for hundreds of martyrs testify otherwise. However, the central characters in the English reformation drama, those who dominated and directed it, were politicians and their subservient ecclesiastical officials, who were moved mostly by political self-interests..."

The Men and Women: Reformers and Pre-Reformers

John Hus: A Brief Story of the Life of a Martyr  (William Dallmann, 1915)

"In a humble hamlet in the southern section of beautiful Bohemia near the Bavarian border of poor peasant parents was born a boy and called Jan - Hus was added from Husinec, his birthplace; some say he saw the light of day on July 6, 1373, but that is not certain..."

The Middle Ages: Early Reformers  (No Date)

"John Wyclif and certain other theologians from various parts of Europe have been dubbed 'Reformers before the Reformation' because of their opposition to fundamental Catholic doctrines and practices about a hundred years before the actual Protestant Reformation began ... John Wyclif is probably the best known of these Early reformers. He was an English theologian who came out in 1376 in opposition to clerical wealth and interference in civil government ... Wyclif's teachings found their most fertile ground outside England in the country of Bohemia, where their greatest propagator was a theologian named John Huss..."

Protestantism

What is a Protestant?  (No Date)

"A Protestant is a Christian who belongs to one of the many branches of Christianity that have developed out of the Protestant Reformation started by Martin Luther in 1517..."

What is Protestantism?  (No Date)

"Protestantism is one of the major divisions of the Christian faith. Traditionally, Protestantism includes all churches outside of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church traditions. Protestant churches affirm the principles of the Protestant Reformation set into motion by Martin Luther's 95 Theses in 1517. Protestants were first called by that name because they 'protested' against the papacy and Roman rule within the Church..."

The Dissenters

What was the Radical Reformation?  (No Date)

"For centuries, groups within Western Christianity has objected to the heretical drift of the Roman Church and sought to correct it. Among these were the Anabaptists, a loose collection of reform-minded Christians within the Church ... As the Reformation continued, groups like the Anabaptists considered the steps taken by Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli to be insufficient. They pushed for even more drastic separation from Catholicism - not just Reformation, but 'Radical Reformation'..."

The Counter-Reformation

What was the Counter-Reformation?  (No Date)

"The Counter-Reformation was Roman Catholicism's response to the Protestant Reformation ... As the Reformation took hold culturally and theologically, Catholicism responded with its own efforts ... the Counter-Reformation wasn't really much of a 'reformation' of Catholicism, at least not a from a theological perspective. It was truly a 'counter to the Reformation'; that is, it was primarily concerned with refuting and silencing Protestant disagreements..."

Ecumenism

Ecumenism  (2003/2013)

"Many folk today sweep away the Protestant Reformation and the pitiless murder of countless men and women who would not compromise their faith during it. Are they right to do this? ... In our article on the Reformation we quoted the brave and hopeful cry of Bishop Latimer to his fellow martyr, Bishop Ridley, as they prepared to face the flames rather than deny the Sovereign Lord Who bought them. Tragically, the candle they lit is indeed being snuffed out..."

YouTubes and Videos

Good Works (Reformation 500)  (18 October 2017)

"Martin Luther on good works."

The Gospel (Reformation 500)  (17 October 2017)

"Martin Luther on the message of the Gospel."

Justified by Faith  (Reformation 500)  (17 October 2017)

"Martin Luther and justification by faith alone (sola fide)."

What was the Reformation All About?  (13 October 2017)

"500 years ago, a German monk named Martin Luther started a protest that exploded into a worldwide movement. So what was the Reformation all about?"

The Protestant Reformation Easily Explained  (06 October 2017)

"On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther, a theologian from Wittenberg, Germany, is said to have published 95 theses on the Catholic Church's selling of indulgences, criticising these. His efforts and those of other contemporaries mark the beginning of a reformation that was going to impact large parts of Europe. education, equality and freedom are core topics of the reformation."

Here I Stand: 500 Years of Reformation  (19 September 2017)

Who are the Reformers?: Martin Luther  (04 June 2017)

Justification by Faith (Jesus vs Works)  (29 May 2017)

What was the Protestant Reformation?  (01 October 2016)

Reformation 500 Years Old  (17 September 2016)

"A short history on the impact and influence of the Protestant Reformation."

How the Protestant Reformation Influenced Western Civilisation  (02 September 2016)

What are the 5 Solas?  (14 July 2016)

"The five solas of the Reformation explained."

Martin Luther, the 95 Theses and the Birth of the Protestant Reformation  (11 May 2015)

The Importance of the Reformation  (23 January 2015)

"Why did the Protestant Church leave the Roman Catholic Church? Martin Luther and other protestants led the Reformation out of the medieval period, and this short video explains why." [EMcD: we would perhaps query the speaker's comment regarding Calvin's 'clarity of thinking' - Calvinist thinking is an extremely convoluted form of philosophy.]

Impacts of the Reformation  (16 November 2011)

"Explaining the political, intellectual, artistic, economic, and religious impact of the Reformation."

The Protestant Reformation - Part One - Part Two  (30 August 2008)

"In the year 1520, every church in Western Europe was a Roman Catholic church. A fact that had not changed since the dawn of Christendom [EMcD: ie. the time of Constantine's 'conversion' to Christianity]. Yet by 1540 the picture was much different..."

E-Books

The Pilgrim Church  (E.H. Broadbent, 1931)

Primarily:  Chapter VII: 1350-1670: Lollards, Hussites, the United Brethren  /  Chapter VIII: 1500-1550: The Reformation  /  Chapter XI: 1525-1689: English Nonconformists.

The History of Protestantism  (J.A. Wylie, 1878)

James A. Wylie's classic book spans the period of "the beginnings of Christianity in the 1st century to the Glorious Revolution in Great Britain in 1688. Due to the size of the work, it is presented as 24 books in 3 volumes."

Foxe's Book of Martyrs  (1554/1563)  (edited by William Byron Forbrush)

Primarily:  Chapter VII: An Account of the Life and Persecutions of John Wickliffe  /  Chapter VIII: An Account of the Persecutions in Bohemia Under the Papacy  /  Chapter IX: An Account of the Life and Persecutions of Martin Luther  /  Chapter XII: The Life and Story of the True Servant and Martyr of God, William Tyndale  /  Chapter XIV: Prior to the Reign of Queen Mary I  /  Chapter XV: An Account of the Persecutions in Scotland During the Reign of King Henry VIII  /  Chapter XVI: Persecutions in England During the Reign of Queen Mary.

Further Reading

Current Trends in the History of the English Reformation: A Review Article  (October 2017)

"There has been much ink spilt in the past two decades upon the issue of the English Reformation and its place in history. Historians working in the field have devoted a considerable amount of time recounting the developments that have emerged in the historiography ... It would be instructive in this, the five hundredth anniversary year of the Reformation, to look at the current state of historical thought on the English Reformation, a series of events that would define the practice of Christianity in the English-speaking world down to this very day..."

"The just shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4b, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11)

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us,
by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7)

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ;
Who gave Himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2:5-6a)

"...by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us ...
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ...
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 9:12b,28a, 10:10b)

"Just as it was difficult to sense the earliest movements of the Church's reformation, it is also difficult to mark its closing.
Perhaps a good argument could be made that it has not ended.
For, whenever a Christian discovers that his or her life might not be as radical or pure as Christ intended,
the trumpet of reform should be sounded - even if it is played only for that believer.
But, if it is for the church, then to those who have ears let them hear" [source].

Thus saith the LORD,
Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,
and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls
(Jeremiah 6:16)

© Bayith Ministries     http://www.bayith.org     bayith@blueyonder.co.uk